


Bookworm Rivals

by RandyWrites



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: (like one chapter but still), F/F, Fluff, Mild Smut, One Shot Collection, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 22:27:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20089774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyWrites/pseuds/RandyWrites
Summary: (cant believe i didn't already have this going BUT) one shot collection from my tumblr. starts w/ snippets from babsrae weekend and more to come from there!





	1. Libraries

It was never just about the books. That was the thing her teammates never truly understood about it. Yes, for all intents and purposes, a library’s primary function was to house and distribute them for the collective use of the public, but it always meant more than that.

A library was a place to find knowledge. A library was a place to find community. A library was a sanctuary.

Which was why Gotham Public was one of the first stops she made after finally, _finally_, settling into her new apartment in Drescher. It was an idle district, all things considered. Never _completely_ free of Bats, but considerably _quieter_ than the neighborhood she had previously been.

Which is why she found herself, with the heat and pressure of the city leaning on her on all sides relentlessly, she took solace in the natural eye of the storm that was the library. A hum of contentment and measured amusement could be felt as she browsed the shelves, wondering idly if her favorite authors were kept in generous stock. It was a gentle, familiar pulse, as patrons kept their voices low and courteous, only the occasional shrill squeal of a child from the far side of the building breaking the spell for the briefest of moments.

She gathered a generous collection as she went along, skimming through summaries and recalling recommendations. Once satisfied with her selection, the former Titan had stacked the books as neatly and efficiently as possible in her arms, making a beeline for the checkout.

Only to stall and duck quickly behind some shelves as she recognized the sight of brilliant red hair, a stern gaze, and a familiar presence that she’d slowly become attached to in the preceding weeks.

Barbara Gordon, the Batgirl. Her current partner in crime-fighting and her current crush.

She could feel a headache begin to grow between her eyes already, her hand itching to reach up and pinch the space for some semblance of relief.

This wouldn’t do at all! She simply wasn’t supposed to be working today! Especially given the events of the night before…

Raven shook her head at herself. She couldn’t afford to let her thoughts trail off like this. Right now, it was all about careful strategy and planning. She’d need to time things just right if she had a hope of avoiding another awkward run-in with the Bat.

She took a chance on peeking around the corner of the shelf, at the counter beyond, and breathed a sigh of relief as she spotted another librarian manning the space alongside Barbara.

If she planned this right, Raven knew she could avoid having to talk to her crush again for at least another couple hours. Perhaps for another few days if she played her cards right when it came to this shared investigation of theirs, but she needed to tackle one obstacle at a time.

The most urgent of which, would be making it out of this library with her sanity in tact.

She closed her eyes and took a breath. She held it in for a few moments, and then she peeked again, satisfied as there was not a single red-head in sight. Barbara must have been called elsewhere, now was her chance!

In her excitement and rush to the counter, she hadn’t noticed the object of her affections, turning around a corner at the very last second, and running right into her. Books and papers and glasses from both were sent flying through the air. And Raven was helpless to stop herself from mutter a low curse under breath.

“Sorry, didn’t see you ther-” the librarian gave a pause, and then a grin that sent the empath’s heart fluttering in her chest, “Fancy seeing _you_ here, _Roth_.”

The former Titan knew her mouth was agape, silently trying to form the words to fire a quick quip back, but falling so horribly short. Just what she had been trying to avoid.


	2. Support

“I swear to God, Dick, you’re almost as bad as _Dinah_,” Barbara grumbled into the comms, “The status of my love life is _none_ of your business, thanks.”

“I’m just saying,” he huffed between flips, “Rae’s been in a weird mood whenever I’ve talked with her.”

Babs smiled to herself, almost about to quip before Dick beat her to the punch.

“I mean _weird for her_, of course. Don’t change the subject!”

An alert on another screen caught Oracle’s eye then, and her mouth formed a taught, thin line before she opened it once more.

“Gonna have to, boy blunder. Four of Penguin’s thugs are closing in. Can you get to a vent or-”

“Maybe, it’ll be close- _Shit_.”

“_‘Covert. Recon only’_ was the plan right?” Babs let out a bark of laughter, “And yet that _never_ seems to be the case.” She opened up the feed to the hall, double checking that the loop she had in place was still running. She checked after a second of silence had descended, to see if Nightwing had made quick work of the goons, or if they’d finally gotten the better of her oldest partner in crime-fighting.

“They’re down, but I don’t have any place to stash them to buy more time-”

“Forget it,” Babs said, pulling up the schematics for the ship again, “His office is just around the corner. We’ll just have to change up your exit strategy.”

She put her comm on mute as Dick pressed on with the mission, and opened a new line.

It felt like ages, Dick was already halfway through downloading and gathering some of the intel they needed. But eventually, Raven picked up.

“Darling, I need a favor.” 

“You Bats always do,” Raven chuckled, “My shift just ended, does someone need stitches? Or is it something more _major_?”

“No healing. Teleportation, actually. How familiar are you with _Port Adams_?”

“Is that the one near Amusement Mile, or-”

“The _Islands_, darling. You really need to get out of that hospital more often.”

“_Sure_. When you give me the chance to take _you_ out of the Clocktower,” Raven shot back, a teasing lilt that Barbara swore held something of a promise in it.

“Nightwing’s gathered intel on Penguin that we need, _stat_. Biggest ship in the harbor, you can’t miss it.”

“I’m picking up his trail already. Any stops I need to make along the way?”

“Yeah, pick up some _milk and eggs_ from the _QuickMart_, thanks,” Babs rolled her eyes, “And some _bread_while you’re at it, please.”

The next voice she heard was directly behind her.

“Careful what you ask, love, I just might make your wish come true.” Babs turned her head to accept the kiss, and smiled as she heard Dick laughing behind them.

“You two are cheesy enough to give _me_ a run for my money.”

“And yet you were _so concerned_ about us earlier-”

Dick put up his hands in defeat, knowing Babs wouldn’t let it go if he didn’t officially drop the subject.

“Point taken. Here’s the drive. Any chance I’ll see you two before the next _reunion_ or _crisis_?”

The hacker and the empath exchanged a quick look, before Raven finally spoke for them.

“_As a matter of fact_, we were _just_ talking about getting out more…”


	3. Glasses

“Be honest,” Barbara started, peering over the edge of her laptop at the Titan facing her on the other end of the couch, “Are they _prescription_ or are they for the _aesthetic_?”

The empath gave a derisive snort, and the hacker laughed at the sound.

“You have _demon eyes_ right? Do you really _need_ the glasses, if-?”

“That’s just the thing, my _demon_ eyes,” Raven explained, placing her bookmark to keep her spot on the page before setting it aside. “They overcompensate for a lot of things. I’m crazy farsighted, which doesn’t exactly help with keeping the page clear when I want to enjoy a good book.”

It was Barbara’s turn now, to squint suspiciously at her girlfriend.

“Just how far _can_ you see, then? If you’ll pardon the pun, what the _hell_ does it mean to have _demon_eyes, anyway?”

Raven gave a roll of her eyes as she answered the question, selectively ignoring the Bat’s antics. “I’ve never measured it out, _per se_, but I’ve been known to pick up a few details that Dick usually missed at some of our crime scenes. And I’ve always been able to see in the dark… _as you well know_,” she gave a cheeky grin as Barbara felt her face go flush.

She gave the Titan’s legs that were entangled in the blankets beside her own, a gentle slap, tutting her disapproval for the impromptu flirtation.

“And yet, for all the good they’ve done us,” Barbara said, turning back to the computer in her lap, “They can’t seem to help us solve this mystery…” She glanced up again to air another question, only to be met with a pair of indigo, bespectacled eyes that had nearly closed the distance on this small couch they shared.

The empath was mindful of the laptop, careful to shut it and remove it from Barbara’s hands with a gentle flick of her wrist, encasing it in her aura to find a home beside her book on the coffee table. With that last obstacle out of her way, she perched herself carefully over the librarian’s legs, arms straddling her sides as she leaned in close to Barbara’s face. Still slightly flush from before, now she could feel the red returning to her cheeks in full force as the empath’s eyes glanced between her own and down to her lips.

“Tell me, Babs, what do _you_ see in my eyes…”

They fluttered shut before the hacker could dare to answer, as lips met in a soft kiss.


	4. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> birthday snippet for squiddy (originally posted on tumblr)

The night air was cool on her skin, as Barbara sat atop the clocktower. For once, watching over the city physically instead of digitally. She’d done enough of that these past few years, enough to last her several lifetimes. She’d seen this city fall to the very brink, and rise from those same ashes. She’d mentored so many heroes since, and seen so much more than she’d dare to imagine.

But even through all of that, on nights like this, when the moon illuminated every normally darkened cornered in its soft light, she found herself nostalgic for the time before any of that.

Before this clocktower became her fortress, and before Gotham grew to love her vigilantes.

The breeze seemed picked up for a moment, until Barbara felt a familiar presence shift the mood around her. Shadows changed direction for a split second as the former Titan materialized behind her, and the hacker could scarcely keep the smile from growing on her face.

“It’s not the views,” she started without waiting for her girlfriend to greet her. “Or the fighting either. There’s not a helluva lot to miss about running around rooftops at night.”

She turned her chair around to face the empath, waiting for the younger woman to close the distance between them before continuing.

“It’s not even the _thrill_, that I miss, believe it or not,” she chuckled lowly, “Figured that out when Dick took me skydiving for my birthday. He meant well, and it was nice but… it’s not _quite_ the same…” She turned from those indigo eyes that watched her oh-so-carefully, behind the Titan and across the bay, searching carefully for the familiar silhouette of Wayne Tower.

When she finally found it, her eyes darted for the other familiar landmarks. The spire of Grand Avenue Station, the lights of Elliot Memorial. In the furthest distance, a gap where many buildings stood before the Cataclysm, gaps that were never fully recovered, never completely restored.

“It’s the wind rushing through your hair… It’s unlike anything else,” she whispered, remembering those adventures long past. “All that freedom of movement. The invincible feeling that you get, when you’re sure of every step and leap and-”

“I could… I could take you there,” Raven offered hesitantly, before amending, “If you’d like.”

“It won’t-”

“Won’t be quite the same, I know.” The empath gave a rare smile, a glimmer in her eye. “But I know it would make you happy. And… I’d love to make you _happy_.”

Barbara looked out again at Wayne Tower, it’s topmost offices finally shutting off its lights for the night. Gotham only ever got more dangerous after a certain point in the night, after all. Even after years of the Bat’s protection.

“I’d… _appreciate_ it,” she finally admitted. “Another… _glide_ around _Gotham_. For old time’s sa-”

Before she’d even had the words out, the Titan scooped her out of her chair, carrying her princess-style as they flew along unseen wind currents. She automatically reached around Raven’s neck, holding on for stability amidst the excitement she could feel beating through her chest.

With Barbara directing her every move, she gave Raven a rooftop tour of _Batgirl’s Greatest Capers_.

Illustrious museums and banks where gangs and costumes had been met with thorough beatings. Grey alleyways that had once trembled in fear at the sight of her silhouette. Many relics of that past hadn’t changed over the years. Weathered gargoyles which became the best of friends to brood with so long ago, still stood sentinel even now as the modern age demanded real security for corporeal dangers, instead of spiritual ones. The whole city came alive again, as she could touch those same balconies where she’d sat so many years before. So many perches that were shared with a bird of a different feather, in that time before.

They circled once around most of the islands, the boroughs most frequented by patrols and those buildings that housed especially noteworthy adventures, until Babs had Raven stop to sit them atop the Lady of Gotham. Their perch gave the best view of Gotham, standing far enough apart to keep the usual din of activity to a low buzz, but near enough to be back within reach of the clocktower in seconds.

Babs hoped there would be no need. But, then again, it wouldn’t be Gotham without some kind of impending disaster interrupting at inopportune moments.

“The view’s changed here,” she laughed, letting the ruefulness in her voice betray her sorrow at the realization. “But it’s… it’s still her. It’s still Gotham.”

“There was an old song Dick used to hum, when he seemed to miss Gotham,” Raven noted, a beat of silence as her normally clear face scrunched minutely to remember. “Something like… _I’m the street you walk, the language you talk_-”

“_I Am The City_,” Babs chuckled, “Boy blunder always did like his _ABBA_.” She took the empath’s hand, thumb running a smooth, mindless circle before she continued. “But he’s not wrong. When you spend so much time in one place, especially a city like this… She’s part of you as much as you’re part of her. Even when you have to leave her…”

She felt the Titan’s gentle squeeze against her hand, shoulders brushing as she inched closer to the hacker, eyes no longer on the view before them.

“We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to, love,” she whispered gently, lips brushing by her ear and down to the hollow of the Bat’s neck. “I won’t be the one to _force_ you to leave her again.”

Despite herself, Babs could feel a lump form in her throat, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She swallowed carefully to avoid letting them spill over, knowing that the empath felt each shift before she even knew her own feelings on the matter.

“Our friends need us,” she sighed, head shaking carefully as the Titan continued to give her careful pecks along her cheeks.

“_She_ needs us too.”

Babs turned from that glittering view of her city across the bay, lips pressing back against the Titan’s, tasting a clash of lingering green tea and a hint of strawberry lipbalm. She wondered idly, if she could taste Babara’s indecision and conflict.

But those thoughts were quickly swept aside, as the stillness of the night’s air was interrupted by raucous gunfire and piercing sirens. A hero’s job, never complete.


	5. "Use your teeth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestive prompt from tumblr... if that isn't your jam, well... you've been warned.

She kissed the empath slowly, gently, carefully. Every move purposeful and calculated. She smiled in satisfaction as the Titan hummed in approval as her lips brushed the column of Raven’s throat and worked down to her shoulders. 

Despite herself, she gave a small whine as Raven’s hands tightened in her hair, nails scratching roughly against her scalp.

“Careful, sweetheart,” Barbara hummed, “I’ve only just started.”

She continued peppering the empath’s skin in light kisses, as Raven began to relax back against the headboard.

“You know how ticklish I can be there, love-”

“And I know that you have a tendency to escalate things too quickly,” the Bat quipped back, one hand lazily tracing patterns along Raven’s side as she continued her journey down the Titan’s body.

She grazed her teeth gently against her girlfriend’s chest, her other hand reaching up now to tenderly embrace the soft skin. Then a quick pinch, a few gentle nibs. She smiled again as Raven’s breath seemed to catch at the unexpected pain, the gasp making her chest rise deliciously. Barbara continued further down to leave a trail of kisses over her stomach.

The hand that had been tracing along the Titan’s side finally found its way to the last remaining piece of clothing she had left, a pair of beautifully navy panties.

“Wait!” 

“What was that, darling?” Barbara asked, eyes peering up at the Titan’s flushed face.

She cleared her throat, face turning scarlett as she said, “I want you to use your teeth.” There was a beat of silence as she swallowed carefully. “Please?”

It wasn’t a beg. But it was _wonderfully_ endearing.

The hacker smiled devilishly as she complied.


End file.
